


Balance

by Anonymous



Category: Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
Genre: Interdimentional Romance, M/M, Rating May Change, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-16 01:42:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13043895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Penn's job ends abruptly and things seem as if they have to go back to how they were. Penn, though, has a thirst for adventure now that he's tasted it.But maybe it would be better if he just let go.(small hiatus!)





	1. Chapter 1

"No, it's not."

Rippen's shoes clicked against the scuffed and worn top of the teleportation platform, pointing towards the Zeroes with an affirmative scowl. "You two aren't going anywhere." A few gasps from the crowd they had gathered there emerged, suspense hanging in the air. Rippen took in a sharp breath, looking upon the heroes and villains upon him in that dingy, old theatre.

A battle of multiuniversal proportions had occured in the past few hours, and the scales had tipped in the favor of good for the rest of eternity. Heroes win, villains lose, it seemed simple.

Simple was the last thing it was, though, when you looked at it at a different angle. It dawned on him, the truth of things. What needed to be said and done, it was the only thing that he could do that wouldn't leave him with that searing guilty conscience afterwards, seeing Penn in the corner of his eye, half sobbing into his dad's shoulder and half looking up from time to time at Rippen.

"I'm...such a terrible villain. That much is so very clear to me."

The eyes of everyone who wasn't looking before were now on him. He had an audience...

The heroes he had fought.

The villains he worked alongside.

Lady Starblaster.

Larry, too.

And the pressure was...surprisingly light; he knew it had to play out like this.

"My parents have told me. These heroes have showed me. I know, I'm a no good villain." He stood up a little taller, taking a deep breath and grabbing at the ridges of his metallic suit nervously. "...But this is going to be a fresh start for Rippen. A fresh start for all of us. I...don't need to be evil. None of us do. This world, all worlds have enough of it. Maybe it's time there's another...hero in this multiverse." He had to stop to hold back that heirloom tomato he ate earlier. He was raised a villain, after all, so it was just disgusting and revolting by instinct; his inner villain couldn't help it.

Penn stared up at him, still clutching onto his dad's arm, but not for long. His grip loosened, pulling a little closer to Rippen with his parents in tow. "Hey...what? What are you saying that for, Rippen? You aren't gonna go and...?" Penn was starting to trust the nasty little villain. Last time, it hadn't worked out well, but...This time, it was different, he knew it. He felt it this time. But he couldn't let him go now, if that was what he was implying he was going to go do. "You can't go in there, Rippen. Come on..." Penn reached out, just ever so slightly, with the biggest and most genuine puppy-dog eyes he'd ever mustered without even trying, his lips pursed slightly.

Rippen answered his question indirectly. "It was nice being... friends," he stops to gag, only for a moment before continuing with his speech, "for these few minutes. Especially you, Penn.--" Another gag, he pulled his hand up to cover his mouth. "Ah. Sorry. Still not used to saying that. But, in all sincerity...thank you, Penn. You saved me...after all I've done to you, you had the heart to rescue me. You're a true hero, and for once, I don't think I despise your kind too terribly. It's been nice being beside a hero, Penn."

There were numerous mutters from the villains in the crowd, all silenced by the sound of dragged out, slow, sarcastic clapping by Lady Starblaster. Rippen shrunk down a bit noticably and the Zero family stepped away a bit as she spoke, "How inspiring to see a villain made soft from a single act of kindness, if you fall for that sort of thing." She gave a little eyeroll, "you, Rippen, are one of the easiest villains to push around. A hero touched your heart, how pathetic! And you call yourself evil. Why don't you let these heroes do their job and crawl back into their miserable place in the universe where they belong?" Penn's tears dropped to the ground with an auditable cry from his lips, not wanting to think about anyone leaving him again.

The art teacher shied away, shrugging a bit as he looked to the ground. "Called. I called myself evil once, Lady Starblaster."  
He turned towards the Zero family one last time, as if he was speaking to them, specifically. "Sometimes, you need to just...forget what you've been in the past and do what's right for the future, no matter what the past held for you."

He turned himself to the portal. "For heroes and villains alike, this is a necessary loss. My apologies, Starblaster, but... Phyllis! Zap me!"

"Phyllis saw this coming." Her hand rested on the lever. "The three, and two, and..."

The last thing Penn felt before that moment was a scream from his throat and tears in his eyes.

A flash of bright light.

A rumbling, loud noise that shook the ground under his feet.

The faintest call of Larry in tears as well.

Penn reached out, grabbing at the outline of the person that was there moments ago. Nothing in his hands besides the slightest tingling sensation from the zap, but in his chest...the heaviest, most devastating emotion he could feel: the loss of someone he knew, a noble hero...a friend. He never wanted to lose anyone again, but life isn't peaches and cream.

Penn turned behind him, staring at his parents. They were back after a year, a whole year of being gone, there they stood.

Thanks to Rippen.

Also kind of because of him, entirely, when they were kind of trapped there because of Rippen. But that's in the past now, right?

Penn fell into his parents' arms, tears in his eyes. It was an overwhelming evening for absolutely everyone there, especially the little red-haired hero who finally completed the greatest mission he had been set out to do: save his parents. Sashi and Boone came up behind him, giving Penn a pat on the back. "Ah, Penn, sweetie.." Vonnie put her hands on Penn's shoulders, Brock kneeling down next to him.

"We're so glad that you're safe."

 

* * *

 

The rest of the evening was spent zapping back the many soldiers of good and evil to their home dimensions, now safe from the corrupted pocket of the multiverse that was the Most Dangerous World Imaginable. Penn watched them all through teary eyes, his last year of hero-ing getting him to know so many different people. He was gonna miss those guys, but at least he would visit them in the future, right?

The Zero family was sobbing together in both sorrow and joy, Larry was crying with Tony in his lap, Boone was tearing up a bit like he was watching some sci-fi tragedy film, and Sashi stood nearby with glossy eyes (which is probably the most that anyone would see her cry). It wasn't long until everyone was back home except the team and the Zeroes, and everyone left that theatre huddled together with red, puffy eyes from all the crying everyone had been doing. Phyllis and Phil stood in front of everyone.

"Well, here is job reference."  
Phyllis passed around papers, "Brock, Vonnie, Penn...and Sashi. Not for Boone, sorry." That earned a groan from the wiseman himself.

"Larry, still a principal...but here is something to stick on resume in case you change job, skip town. It is recommended." Phil handed some papers to Larry as well, which he tucked in his pocket with a smile and a "thaaank-you!"

"Waitwaitwait," Penn stepped forward as he shoved the paper in his suit's back pocket, "references? Like you're firing us? Why?! The world needs more heroes like us, and now that my parents are back, you've got twice the staff! Who's gonna keep everything all saved and good and whatever?!"

"Ah ah ah, stop for moment. Penn," Phyllis wagged her finger, stepping a bit closer to Phil, "balance, it is restored now. It is like black and white. The scales of good and evil " The two of them slowly seemed to become less like separate entities and more like one, to everyone's sudden disbelief. "Without good, you are terrible person. Without evil..." Phil butted in, if you could even call them two separate people after they merged like bleeding paints on a canvas, "You are hardly person at all, no?"

Penn stepped back as the now single entity rose up, and- oh wow that was... What was that? It was like some sort of...space ape golem. Whatever it was, it spoke out, "thank you... for retaining the balance once more. I will be watching over you. Probably. Especially, if a hero is needed again."

And with that, it disappeared with a "good luck!", fading out of reality like it never existed. What an end to the strangest and most dazing days of Penn's life.

Silence. Nobody spoke a word for a while...until Larry spoke up, "anyone want to grab something to eat? I know this great sushi place downtown, they got bottomless chips! Oh, that reminds me, did I ever tell you guys about..."

It was awfully surreal, eating big one night with a friend like it was a normal, average day. Chips, soda pop, sushi, the works. Larry was quiet for a bit when he ate with Tony, Chuck and Rose came down to join in on dinner to start catching up with the rest of the team, Boone raised his glass of soda, "cheers to...getting fired! Also saving the Jazzman's parents!"

"I told you not to call me the--"

"To the Jazzman!" Everyone chimed in besides Penn, to his dismay. It was almost like a normal night.

In an everyday town.

In an average world.

In the typical universe.

In the completely, perfectly, and absolutely normal multiverse.

But, of course, that'd be too much to ask for, wouldn't it?

 

* * *

 

The Zeroes looked back around the town as the reunited family headed back home, noting all the little changes around them despite only being gone for a year. It felt so much longer than that, living on the Most Dangerous World Imaginable. "Oh my gosh, they closed Caroline's Ice Cream! Brock...we went there on Penn's tenth birthday...and every semester he got his report card back...and-"

Penn snickered, "at least we know why they shut down. Their number one customers went to dimension he-...ck. I said heck. Please don't ground me the first day being back home."

His parents laughed, while the other two tutted. Boone, Sashi, and Larry all took their own paths home, leaving the Zeroes to themselves. It was a lot of banter the whole way home, about how "honey, you've grown so tall!" and "was that tree there last year?" or "I can't believe they took that old stop sign down!"

It was funny, really. It almost seemed like the last year never even happened. Penn got tucked into bed, which he admittedly never outgrew enjoying, and he was given a little goodnight kiss on his forehead. Complete and utter normalcy, although a bit childish on Penn's part. But the guy had his parents missing for a year, so the narrator shall give him a break.

For weeks, this was the routine. Penn kept his things from Phyllis in the closet like relics aside from the MUHU, which he thought he could use more like a phone despite his parents never calling him on it anymore, the triangulator suit (he kept one of the crystals with him for good luck even though it never brought any in the past), and one of Phyllis's marionettes she gave everyone multiple of for Christmas. "Just in case you want some for friend," she said when she gave everyone armfuls of boxes of marionettes, "is ideal gift." Penn missed Phyllis already, and her third person speech pattern.

It had been a good amount of months, and it almost all seemed like a horrible, wonderful dream. The portals, the missions, the huge galaxy monkey thing, so unreal. Sometimes, Penn asked Boone and Sashi if it ever really happened, which they would either reply, "totally, I still have this scar I don't wanna mention from it," or "yes, stupid," depending on who it was he asked.

It started affecting his home life after a while. He couldn't really rest well at night; he had nightmares before saving his parents, and he thought that now, since they were back home, he would stop having them. The nightmares were much different now, the variety of terrors wider. The shaking ground, the maws of a flame-mouthed beast, and the feeling of a weight in his hand off the edge of a cliff. The fact that he couldn't save someone in those situations anymore. Now, the most heroic things he did were recycling and returning purses to grannies. He knew that there were people still in actual danger; sure, it was nice to help, but he knew the terrors that were in the other realities every day, and he wanted to help them, not the little puppies that had gotten lost for a few hours.

It seeped into his grades after the new nightmares started, probably about six months from what Penn's family and friends now call the "whole hero-villain-portal incident," since nobody likes describing the events that took place anymore, and there weren't a lot of words that easily described all of that stuff.

Penn slouched in his green plastic chair as the new teacher- Ms. Valerie, wrote her name on the board like she did every morning. It was only just another reminder he's had about the events of the past several months. No more exciting missions, no more fights in alternate dimensions...just snagging cats from trees and sorting out elementary issues around town. It felt so trivial compared to the life he lived before. His gravy boat was looking lopsided that day.

"Adrenaline junkies," his dad described the Zeroes.

It ran in the family. The little things didn't do it for Penn; it felt good to help others, obviously. That was the point of being a hero. But now it felt like the best parts were gone.

It was the last day of school before he knew it.

"Would Penn Zero come up to the principal's office, pretty please?" Larry's voice rang on the loud speaker.

Zero groaned, turning his heel as he parted from between Boone and Sashi. "Don't get in trouble, brooo!" Boon waved back to him, but he was already around the corner.

Penn sat down in the principal's office, "Hey Larry." His voice was flat.  
  
"Aww, Penn. I know what's up, you know, and I'm on the same level of sad and bummed out as you are, but," he jacked his chair up a few notches so he could see Penn better, Tony also peeking from underneath the table. "It sure is tough after all the stuff that happened. We lost Phil, and Phyllis, and Rippen, but you can't let it bring you down, especially today! You know," Larry patted the little teacup elephant on his lap, "it kind of reminds me of this one time I bought this kite at an auction, and it was, like, five hundred bucks, so I thought it would fly super high and smooth-like! But I took it out on this really windy day, and it was about to pull me right off my feet, like-"

Penn zoned out, like he learned to in that one adventure when he was a great doctor in the year nineteen-something-something. He was never good with historical time periods, and it still kinda bugs him that he doesn't know what year it was. That mission was interesting, to say the least. It felt weird having his body being taken over by another person entirely. Rippen. Ah, yes, he's probably dead by now, the guy who he shared bodies with. He didn't wanna think about that anymore.

Focusing back on Larry's exasperatingly long story, he was pleased to hear an ending. "What I'm saying, Penn, is that you gotta learn to let go of things sometimes, whether it be a tree, a bunch of antique books, or Rippen, you just have to let things go! Of course," he sniffled a bit, lifting his glasses to wipe his tears, "the loss of our dear friend is a sad one...but it's not your job to worry about it anymore! You got a whole summer ahead of you, and I'll be seeing you around, Penn! Maybe we'll meet up at a pet shop or while walking our teacup elephants! Well. My teacup elephant. Isn't that right, Tony?" The little elephant snorted and rubbed up against Larry.

Penn shrugged. "Yeah. I...I'll see you 'round, Larry. Not...not on any super cool missions or anything though. Maybe walking on the street. Grocery shopping."

Larry was completely silent for a few moments. "... Alrighty, Penn! Seeya at the grocery store!" The ginger headed out the door, shrugging his backpack straps on as he headed into the hallways, which were just about barren. Ah, yeah, Penn had nearly forgotten. They had a rally around now in the gym. Penn wasn't in the mood to go anyway.

Penn found himself wander into the art room, the door unlocked. He locked it behind him, sighing as he took in reality that surrounded him. Ever since they got a new teacher, everything had moved around and changed. He admittedly had issues with that, leaning up against the counter as his hands rested on it.

There it was again. That feeling in his chest, was it sadness? Guilt? There was someone right there, who was ready to suffer the most dangerous beasts in the web of universes he had ever been in, so his parents could return home. He couldn't help but relive that moment whenever memories of it were brought up...

He bet that Rippen wasn't even alive.

Letting out a sigh, Penn moved to the teacher's desk. Everything of the last art teacher's things had been moved to the lower right drawer, shoved inside of there carelessly. If Rippen was dead, Penn bet he was rolling in his lava-grave right now, and the thought made Penn laugh sadly. The drawer slid open, revealing papers upon papers of all sorts of things, with his desk supplies shoved on top. Penn noted the little nametag that sat on top of all of it. "MR. RIPPEN," it read. He was sure nobody would mind if he took it, he thought, as he shoved it into his backpack.

The schoolday was cut in half, and after the pep rally in the gym, everyone would be let go for summer vacation. Penn snuck in and sat in between his friends, who were conveniently on the end of the bleachers. "What did Larry say, dude?" Boone elbowed his friend as he whispered to him, and Penn let out a shrill "owwie!" as he did so.

"You know...just, 'have a good summer' or something." He shrugged and looked down at his sneakers, tapping his feet quietly.

"Well, you totally missed it! They tossed out candy," he tugged a lollipop out of his pocket, which the wrapper read 'Chew Pop'- Boone's favorite, since it had gum in the middle.

"Aww, man, sounds like I really missed out. Yeah," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head. Penn didn't really mind; he wasn't in the mood for today. He thought maybe he needed something to cheer him up. "So, you guys. First day of summer...sleepover at my place?" Maybe Larry was right. He couldn't let this upset him anymore, it's all in his past now. Some time with his friends could lift his mood, he figured.

Sashi nodded, "I don't have much planned, I'll have to call my parents but I think it'd be fine."

Boone just exclaimed "yeah!", and that was good enough for Penn.

 

* * *

 

"Love you guys! See you tomorrow morning for the cheese tasting contest, brother!" Sashi hung up with a soft 'beep' on her phone, "I'm in the clear. How about you, Boone?"

He shrugged, "whatever, my parents know the Boone is gonna be partying tonight! It's the first day of summerrrr, guys!" He punched the air for emphasis, making 'whoosh' noises with his mouth.

Penn and his friends approached his house, swinging open the door as Zero called out to his parents. "Mooom, Daaad, I'm having a sleepover if that's okay!"

There was a distant "sure, sweetie, have fun! Stay safe!" "And no heading out on adventures without the okay from your mother and I! Call us!" from the backyard, and Penn set his shoes at the door, Sashi following suit. She and Boone set their bags down as well, Boone keeping his flip-flops on, because...well, they were important.

The three of them marched up to Penn's room, Boone flopping on the bed and Sashi leaning on the doorway. Penn hummed, "I think I might have a few games in here, if you guys wanna play something..." Penn cracked his closet open, staring down at the suit that sat on the floor. The triangle on the suit glowed softly, much quieter than how brightly it shined when it was charged. The bottom third of it was missing, too, since Penn still kept that shard with him.

Sashi stood behind him, Boone already grabbing at the marionette that sat next to the triangulator suit. "Yo coconut," the toy said as Boone's fingers grabbed at it.

"You still have that old, beat-up thing? I thought you would have gotten rid of it by now." Sashi crossed her arms, "why haven't you? I don't even think it works..."

Penn shrugged, "dunno...It's nostalgic? I really don't know.."

"Then why are you taking up closet space with it?"

Penn had a weird feeling that he knew what he wanted with it. It was on the tip of his tongue, but the thought was more irrational and intrusive-like, he thought, it couldn't be what he really wanted with it. Maybe he did want to hold onto it for nostalgic purposes alone...

Or maybe he still had that bit of hope in his mind that maybe, just maybe it would work again if he charged the shards. The theatre was gone, so he had his doubts, but there was always that "maybe", the sliver of possibility. Hope. He could be a hero again, go back, save somebody who he didn't think deserved to be stuck where his parents had struggled to live.

If he was even still alive. That was still something he had yet to prove.

"Sashi...do you think the shards still work?"

Penn's friends fell silent, one last press of the Phyllisonette as a "no time for fun" slipped from its mechanical mouth.

"I mean," Penn's eyes darted around the closet, "it's just that, you know, it'd be cool if it did. That's it."

"You know, Penn," Sashi set her hand on Penn's shoulder, "everything is how it's supposed to be. Don't jack it up now; it was fun fighting monsters but not at the expense of, like, the balance of the universe. Don't mess with it, Penn."

Penn let out a sigh, "I know, Sashi, but...I just feel like we could be so much more than neighborhood heroes. The multiverse still needs us..."

More importantly, he wanted to save Rippen. It was like he finally won- not in a battle of grand scale, but with the power of good, finally brushing against Rippen's sad, shrivelled heart. He was finally a hero, and his first and last heroic action was saving everyone with a sacrifice nobody would ever forget that day.

"Penn, the stupid multiverse is fine. We have to do the good we can here, right? If we aren't the heroes doing the little jobs, they'll build up because who else will do these jobs?" Sashi gave Penn a pat, nearly knocking the wind out of him, honestly. "Everyone will need us, and where will we be? Fighting monsters in some scary dimension full of monsters that already had heroes there to handle it. That's just abandoning the universe we have here, you know." Sashi meekly gave Penn a hug, which felt more like a death grip knowing her, but Penn sadly smiled either way.

"Thank you, Sashi..." His voice trailed off a little bit, looking down at the ground before returning his gaze, looking between Sashi and Boone, "you guys are the best friends I could have asked for."

Truthfully, Penn was really bummed out. Adjusting was never his strong suit; nor was putting on a strong face, but he had to from how everyone had been worrying about him. It wasn't doing anybody any good to see him so upset; after his parents came back, he expected everything to be absolutely perfect again, like it was before they had disappeared into the portal, except...still a part-time hero. That was his life; that's what he was. He fought crime across dimensions! It just...wasn't fair!

Boone found something under the bed. "Yooo, you guys, I found my lost pair of flip flops under here! Man, thought I'd never see these guys again..."

Penn laughed and rolled his eyes, Sashi backing off as Zero seemed in a better mood.

"Hey, let's see if your parents can get pizza, Penn. You know how they fold the pizza in half and stuff to keep it from falling out but it makes the cheese and stuff on the inside?" Boone laid on his back, "I totally had this great idea that if you folded it the other way, you can get the topping side all over your tastebuds. We so gotta try it."

Zero chuckled, and reached into his pocket. He only had his MUHU on hand, and he figured that's just about as good as his phone.

"You still have that thing too? You don't need inter-dimensional devices to talk to your parents anymore, Penn. You just like holding onto this stuff?" Sashi gave him a little shoulder punch, but only little to Sashi. It still hurt.

Penn shrugged, "call it nostalgia, I guess. I'll go make the call." The ginger hero stood up as he went to go call his parents, heading to the kitchen to get a cup of water. "MUHU," Penn began as he took a sip of water, "call parents."

It rang once.

Twice. Some static.

Someone answered.

Cue dramatic spit take.


	2. A Shard of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penn makes a bit of a discovery involving the shard he owns.  
> As well as makes contact with someone he never expected to see again.

Oh god, he had regretted it all instantaneously.

Least to say, the bomb had seared his skin even though he believed he was far enough away to escape unscaved. Those things were plenty more powerful than they needed to be, Rippen thought.

He must've blacked out, because when he came to, something was sniffing his leg and honestly he was almost too afraid to look. Its breath covered his whole body, hot and pungent, hungry. Rippen didn't know if moving would set it off, but his decision was made shortly after whatever the animal was took a leg into his mouth. Rippen's leg jerked out to kick quickly inbetween what seemed to be his eyes (but he couldn't tell, nor would he stop to take a look) as he took for the mountains ahead of him.

His suit still worked somewhat, and as he pressed a few buttons on the beige mechanical board (which, to say the least, he would have to tailor some more fashionable, comfortable clothing), the rockets on his boots sputtered before raising himself up the face of a large cliff, the rockets giving out right as he scaled the top.

Gazing down at the beast that had previously been gnawing on his leg, he noted that it wasn't actually that scary. It was bean-shaped, covered in black hairs, and a large maw with rounded, stub like teeth, staring up at him despite having no visible eyes to see him. It stomped off with thick, stubby, and almost elephant-like feet, shaking the ground below it.

Rippen sighed, letting his legs dangle off the edge as he looked out at the wasteland in front of him. The air smelled of ash, decaying flesh and something distinctly...hell-like, if hell didn't smell like ash and death already.

He realized, he should probably be finding shelter. Water, and food, too, but he had a home as his main priority. Glancing around, he saw his possibilities. A lava pit. Some hole...ah! A cave extended out of another cliff face, stalag...tites? Mites? Hanging from the entrance. He was an art teacher, not a geologist. It didn't matter, because the next thing he knew, he was heading on inside.

Rippen found himself huddling in a dank, dark cave, leaning up against the moist walls. It was a moderate temperature, not too hot or cold. Maybe he could live here...he could see it now: the nice table, hand-knit doilies from the pelts of his fallen enemies, the kitchen, maybe a couch...

He could make a nice little life for himself here. Rippen had to learn to look on the bright side of things for being the family failure, the failure in general, all that.

Living here might not be so bad, right?  
...  
Who was he kidding? This was terrible.

Rippen sighed, hitting his head against the wall. He wouldn't make a week out here, not with how he had been managing back home.

Maybe he needed to turn things on their head to figure out how to make things work out.

 

* * *

 

Penn stared at the MUHU's screen, a bit of water dripping from his mouth as the person on the other end stared back.

Rippen, kneeling down in the throat of a giant Volnworm while wearing an apron woven of some sort of cashmere. Not how he expected to see Rippen again, if ever.

"Penn?"

It was earlier that day, Rippen had finally obtained that dimension's equivalent of wheat flour. Keeping a garden in a nice patch of dirt near a mineral spring; it was in a dip in the mountain, shielded by most the vomit from the stars at night(?) and hungry animals that ate anything other than flesh.

He brought his food home, as well as some bottles of water he blew out of glass. Flying elecobra gibblits, water, tackleon eggs, nantick butter, and the oddly colored flour, adding a pinkish color to the mixture. It was these things that reminded him of earth. He didn't like the planet for many reasons, but the few things he did enjoy were things he found comfort in. He even sewed himself a new stuffed animal, named "Frederick the Second."

His muffins were 5 minutes to done in his pan he casted himself, rising nicely. And then there was a...dinking noise, echoing deeper inside of the cave. He didn't go so deep inside of it, just because the space wasn't too necessary. He didn't have much.

It was a few seconds until it hit him, a MUHU laying on the ground and vibrating slightly. He pressed his thumb against it, and now we're caught up to Penn's little spit-take.

"Penn?"

"...you're alive?"

"And you're still dumb and oblivious to the obvious in front of you. Both of these are shocks to nobody."

Penn pouted. "You know, I thought you were hurt or dead or something and you call me stupid? Come on, Rippen, I thought you were nicer than that now! Plus, your apron is hideous, not to judge but-"

"I was joking, don't jab at my apron." Rippen was walking back towards the front of the-

"Hey, why are you in a worm by the way? Just asking, just curious."

Rippen dropped his muffins on his foot, the pan still hot. "Owowow, what? Augh, a worm? You made me burn my foot.." He frowned and picked up his muffins, setting them down on the makeshift oven's top.

Penn leaned back against the counter, "youuu'ree weirdly even-tempered. I dunno if I can trust you, you miiiight be a body-snatcher..." He tapped his chin with a smile, "quick, what's my very well known best feature?" Penn was having a weirdly nice time talking to Rippen like an old friend.

"You're unbelievably annoying. But to you, it's your unruly hair, everybody knows you don't shut up about it." That made Penn shy away a bit. "I'm kind of busy, Penn, so perhaps we can catch up later, but for now.." Rippen picked a muffin up from the tray, digging into it slightly with his claws and taking a bite, "see you another time."

"Yeah, you too, Rippen..bye, yeah!"

With that, Penn hung up, sweating more than he and Boone did in gym combined. And Boone did a lot of sweating. It was a difficult feeling of excitement to describe, but it was like he still had some sort of...connection to the multiverse, and oh. Rippen was still alive. That's a relief, in a weird sort of way. And they just had a talk over muffins and water. Surreal as ever.

"Jazzman! Did you get the pizza order in with your parents?" Boone, classy as ever.

Also a relief that the other two didn't hear his conversation with Rippen. Sashi's whole talk about putting the multiverse-stuff behind him gave him the feeling that she didn't want him 'messing with' it again, and Boone was probably loose-lipped enough to say something about it even if he was told not to.

"Uhh, sorry, they aren't picking up my MUHU call! I'll, I'll grab the phone real quick!"

With that, he just picked up the landline on the wall and dialed his parents.

 

* * *

 

The moment the call ended, Rippen held his head in his hands, and groaned an especially long "oh, goodness." He had communication...with another person. That's a first for many, many months, if you don't count his stuffed animal and his pet that he had befriended about a week in.

The little...wait, scratch that. The big fella was hungry, and passed-out Rippen was really the only thing around that it could catch to eat. With Rippen being able to at least hunt, his pet (which he affectionately named "Fluffy") could eat, and Rippen had someone to keep him company. Funny, really, before he came here, he wouldn't imagine trading any sort of resources for petty companionship. But...this planet was desolate. He took socialization for granted back on earth. Maybe he would call Penn later--

Wait. Worm?

 

* * *

 

"Thanks Mom! Thanks Dad!"

Penn gave his parents a hug, Boone already prying open the pizza on the table. Brock ruffled Penn's exceptionally fluffy hair before the kid sat down, grabbing the first sl- nevermind, Sashi was already into it, snagging the first piece. Boone tried his "reverse folded" pizza, only to find that the toppings fell off. Hmm...

Dinner wasn't too long, Penn cleaning up hesitantly after the other two left him to finish up. They found their way over to the living room, Boone already flipping through the movie collection in the cabinet and Sashi turning on the television.

Penn wandered over to the couch, "movie night, huh guys? That's, like, classic sleepover. Boring."

Sashi shrugged, "what do you suggest we do, Penn? Sneak out and find some dangerous things to do like we're irresponsible teenagers?"

"That is exactly what I suggest, Sashi."

"I'm in with that."

"Aww," Boone sighed, "and I just found my favorite movie..." as he tucked away a cartoony disc case. "Sneaking out sounds good too, I guess..."

"Sounds great," Penn put his fist against his hand dramatically, "because I have a plan."

 

* * *

 

"They're asleep," Penn muttered to his friends as his parents were down for the count after going for a jog around the block, which may or may not have involved plenty of stunting. It probably did.

"Pretty simple plan," Sashi muttered, "but impressive for you, Penn."

"Well it-- it worked! That's what matters."

The three of them had snuck out, and they were out in the woods as Penn led. "Maybe this would be good for you, Penn. Getting your adrenaline in without beating things up, just at the risk of...wild animals. You can beat them up if they come at you, you know," Sashi said, "I'm just glad you've gotten over your thing with our ex-hero status."

"Me too, uh-huh..."  
His hand subconsciously moved on over to his pocket, feeling the MUHU through it. 'Over it' his ass, a new can of worms had just been opened, a second chapter to the story of his job as a hero! He couldn't be over it.

As if on cue, a very untimely cue, the small device buzzed on his pocket. This could be the key to getting back in the big hero-ing game. He wanted to talk to Rippen, since he felt like maybe now he could be a little more approachable before they were more or less business competitors in a weird way in the past, but now, it was more of a "maybe" rather than a "no chance in any hell."

"Oh, shoot, Penn. Is that your parents? We are so doomed right now, dude. At least you are." Boone had to chuckle for a moment, "it was kinda your guys' idea, I'm only an accomplice now."

Penn grimaced. He didn't wanna leave it ringing, since Rippen was probably talking to rocks and bones at this point and could really use the time to talk, but Boone and Sashi...

"I gotta pee! Bye! Don't come near this tree, at all!"

There was his quick thinking. It wasn't any good, but it was quick. Penn made his way behind a tree, and another one, another after that, jumping from the backs of trees to trees to get a safe distance away from the other two.

"You shouldn't of held it so long, dude!"

Penn scrambled to get the MUHU out of his pocket, just barely being able to answer it. "Sorry! Sorry. In the woods," he paused to take a deep breath, "with friends. It's complicated, I'll-"

"What did you mean by me being 'in a worm'?"

"Oh, you're in a Volnworm. Don't touch its uvula, unless you wanna get eaten. Its reflexes are, like, completely dependant on that." Penn let out a little laugh, covering his mouth when he realized it was a tad loud. Oops.

"Oh. I thought that was a part of the cave interior! And to think I was going to install my chandelier there..." His home did smell strange, and the walls were kind of soft. He probably should have seen it coming for a while. "Well, thanks for...helping me not dying. Maybe you best get back to your friends on over there..."

"Over where?"  
Penn peeked from behind the tree, seeing Sashi nearby and Boone not too far behind her.  
"Ah shoot-- call you later okay bye! Don't get eaten!"

And with that, the call was over even more abruptly this time. Penn was starting to wonder if he could ever get a moment to himself and his MUHU.

"Penn, buddy, it reeaally does not sound like peeing over there. What're you doing?"

Zero was caught with his MUHU in his hand, slouched up against the tree with eyes wide as saucers.

"...calling on the MUHU, huh." Sashi tapped her foot, "your parents have the only other MUHU from Phyllis, right?"

"Yeah! And, and they called, and said..." Penn was at a bit of a loss for excuses. Webs of lies were hard to keep when he didn't know he was lying. His parents left the MUHU at The Most Dangerous World Imaginable, which explained why they never picked up his calls on it. "Dad butt-dialed us. Yes. While sleeping with the MUHU in his pocket."

"Even though you said he didn't pick up earlier, he had it in his pocket." Sashi gave him a glare as he stood up from the tree.

"...  
Yes." Penn hoped lying through this would be easy with Sashi's eyes practically piercing his body. And also because she could probably beat him up in a heartbeat.

"And you guys had a conversation. About...worms."

"Worms...that he, uh, saw outside today on a walk with Mom!" Okay, lying was getting harder now.

Sashi was too tired to care, or maybe she just was convinced at that point because she rolled her eyes and started to march through the woods again. That reminded him, there wasn't any sort of goal there, so they had pretty much been wandering aimlessly around the woods near his house. Boone looked at Penn and shrugged, following the other.

The three of them found themselves at an early summer moonrise, a cliff near the edge of town. The air was warm, the grass tall from nobody cutting it in the clearing right on the edge of a mountain. Penn sucked in a breath, thinking maybe this could clear his mind a little more.

He dropped himself down to sit at the edge, letting his legs dangle precariously. It gave him a bit more of a rush that way, if anything.

Gazing out into the wood and mountains in front of him, he put a hand through his hair with a sigh. It had been so long for all of this to sink in, and maybe he could finally start to accept what happened. Admittedly, it hadn't been easy at all.

Understandably so, of course, when you shape your life around a year's worth of work and it all just...disappears, it's strange and upsetting. This was a moment of reflection, Penn thought, recalling when he saw Rippen's lips pressed down in a line when he was about to enter the hellish world his parents had lived in for so long. He was willing to stay there...for the sake of who?

Rippen was never a hero; didn't have the attitude, nor the heart, Penn thought. But there was something about Rippen that seemed to have changed that day on that portal platform, at least, he had to have changed if that was the same Rippen he was talking to on the MUHU earlier. Maybe he shouldn't be calling Rippen. Maybe...maybe it was time to let go of all of this. Maybe Sashi was right.

"PENN!"

It was in the blink of an eye that the red-headed hero was dangling by his leg off the edge of the tallest peak in town, Sashi and Boone grabbing onto his leg hard enough to dig into his skin if his pant leg wasn't in the way, more likely Sashi than Boone.

"Oh. Wow. Okay."

Penn wasn't one to freeze up most the time, but dangling a hundred feet or more above a sea of trees was never a fun situation. A small pendant he had around his neck sat in front of his face, nearly poking him in the eye, but what bugged him the most was how bright it was right in his face. Stiff as a board, Penn was dragged up as he was surprisingly light, breathing quickly and shallowly as he clung to whatever sat in front of his face on his chest.

"That's enough adventure for one day. Yep." Penn stood up as he clutched at his chest, running his thumb over the shard--

Ah. His pendant...was a shard. He had almost forgotten. And now it was alight. He knew what that meant.

"Close call, Penn. Don't be stupid next time, okay?"

Penn tucked his pendant into his pocket faster than anyone could see it, probably snapping the thin string that held it around his neck, but it didn't matter, he would replace it at home. "I didn't mean to fall, sorry!" He gave Sashi a little frown, "sorry to be an inconvenience by, like, almost dying."

Boone grabbed Penn by the shoulder, starting to walk them down the small mountain, "well, Penn, what matters is that it was almost dying, and not dying. I say we go home...and watch that movie."

The three of them marched down to Penn's house, Penn knowing that his parents would probably be asleep. After returning from their year-long adventure, they had to get back in their sleep schedules, and they valued a good night's sleep to get up and make the most out of their days. The trio snuck in through the back door, Penn locking it behind them as they made their way back upstairs. His dad was snoring loudly, which was usually a good sign, and they made it back to his bedroom.

"Well," Penn grabbed his blankets off his bed, "one of us gets the bed, one on the couch, and the other on the-"

"I call dibs on bed!"

"I'll take the couch."

And that left Penn on the living room floor, near Sashi which made him a bit on edge. She had a tendency to be very...alert in her sleep.

Laying on a little cot on the floor, Penn held the MUHU close to his chest. A warm feeling sat in his pocket, and he dug his hand in to- "ow!" Again, he had to remember that shards were sharp. Digging it out, he held the crystal in front of his face as it illuminated the area around his palm, very dimly at most. It was nowhere near charged, that was a definite, but it definitely gave a possibility; a bigger glimpse into his future.

His heart fluttered at the thought. Not all was lost, still having the little bit of hope that maybe he could travel the multiverse again.

And, of course, tie up loose ends with a long lost friend that maybe wasn't too out of his grasp after all. Such a thought kept Penn grinning as he dragged the blanket over his body, slipping the shard back into its nestling place in his pocket.

The possibility of anything was once again in his grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha ya...updating here before writscrib just bc the fandoms dead on there!!! hope yall like this

**Author's Note:**

> yo so like...this fanfic totally wouldnt have been written if your_bones and kittenmittens didn't write a totally wicked fic called "stranded" and i 110% recommend giving it a read! it's so good and it really inspired me to write a fic of my own for this fandom!


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